Faced with his mother's unusual and probably fatal illness, Artemis Fowl calls on his magical friends to travel eight years into the past to undo something he did as a 10-year-old boy. Full of adventure, magical creations, humor, and even a budding romance. By seeing himself as he was 8 years ago, Artemis is able to make some interesting observations about how and why he has changed. Also, a subplot stretched to absurdity illustrates the danger mankind poses to the animal kingdom. As always, the power and importance of true friendship is evident.

Reidel's voices fit the characters nicely. ( )

Artemis, Holly, and the rest are back. This time, Angeline Fowl has a debilitating disease that no specialist can figure out...because it's caused by infected magic. To save his mother, Artemis and Holly must go back in time to out-trick the trickster himself...10-year-old Artemis. As might be expected from an Artemis Fowl book, there are lots of twists and turns, evil villains attempting to outsmart each other, and just plain silliness.

Personally, I found the time travel explanations (not that it existed, but how things happened) just...well, convoluted for lack of a better word. It's very confusing. And the villains are a bit over the top. One of the things I enjoyed about the first few books was how the sides weren't clearly drawn -- neither Artemis nor the fairies were completely "right," and you could see things from each point of view. Also, the author seemed to expect a certain amount of sophistication from his audience to be able to figure out that Artemis is not as tough as he pretends to be, but there are people he cares about and fights for. The first three books especially (from what I remember) are like that, but The Time Paradox seemed to say things bluntly about the characters rather than letting the reader figure things out for himself. It was a light, fun read but these things bothered me and kept me from really falling into the story and loving it. ( )

Number 6 in the Artemis Fowl series includes time travel, endangered species, evil extinctionists and an evil pixie. ( )

Not the best outing for Artmeis Fowl, but still satisfying. He's still clever and manipulative although he's becoming less of a criminal mastermind and more of an immoral genius with some elements of a moral code.

The explanation of how clever Artemis is grates rather than makes me think "Oh yes" this time - perhaps because some of the explanations were obvious and the rest were just ludicrous in their underlying assumptions.

That said, it's still a fun romp and well worth a read if you liked the earlier books. ( )

Artemis Fowl has to outwit not only baddies but himself when he was younger and less nice as he and Holly go back in time to find the last of a species of lemur to save his mother's life. Adventure stays at a high level and the book is fun and dwarfs continue to do things that are not discussed in polite company and friendship and kindness and trust are important.
A coded message runs along the bottom of each page; I have no idea what it says. ( )